Reviews - Henry Henry | The StoryGraph

375 reviews for:

Henry Henry

Allen Bratton

3.69 AVERAGE

valkeakuulas's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Our main character Hal is tragic in a way that all english, gay, aristocratic, unhappy young men tend to be in literature but somehow it does not hinder the books ability to make the reader feel for him. Hal has the weight of being the first son of a duke and catholic church on his shoulders...and plenty other problems as well. It's a rough ride and there are several scenes where horrific emotional damage is happening to Hal, especially through his relationship with his father.

There are some technical choices Bratton has taken on his narration (namely re: the excessive use of said while writing dialogue) which irritated me but on the whole the book creates a convincing arc for our protagonist that makes the book worth reading. Also I would have liked to have seen a little bit more at the end, Hal's story stops very abruptly and could have done with few more chapters.

PS. The UK cover is horrendous compared with the US cover.

spookybillie's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

claramaddie's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

thefatspicegirl's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 10%

i wanted to like this, but i couldn't get into it. it was just... boring.

alylentz's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was a little worried that this was going to be hard to get through, but I found myself dying to know what happened. Bratton is a gifted sensory writer and this is a stunning debut. There are definitely shades of A Little Life in here, but I found it to be much more realistic and better written. A book I will definitely be thinking about for a while. Can't wait to see what Allen Bratton does next.

Content Warnings

adonisroses's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

one of the best shakespeare retellings i’ve ever read. i was shocked by the drop into trauma and dysfunction about 50 pages in, but not surprised by it, because the book sets up its themes and cares for its characters so efficiently and lovingly despite all it puts them through. this wasn’t what i expected from a shakespeare retelling, but it was fitting and utterly gut-wrenching. some of the best prose i’ve read in recent memory, especially in description. i need to eat it page by page.